Note for non-Australian visitors

In Australia "Liberal" is Right-Wing Neo-Cons; economically liberal, socially repressive, tax the poor to subsidise the rich. Republican is also a good thing, as opposed to being a lackey of the British monarchy.

The LNP are in love with former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The media are in love with former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (but I repeat myself). The LNP voters, if you believe the LNP cheerleaders in the media, are in love with Kevin Rudd.

There is “Ruddmentum” for a “Ruddstoration”. There are entire newspapers and news sites that devote article after article to bringing back Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister who was voted out of his seat in the 2007 election, John Howard, will be on the LNP leaning Channel 9’s 60 Minutes tonight to talk about Ruddstoration. Yeah right, because John Howard truly has the best intentions in his heart for the ALP.

So, after much thorough analysis, I have a graphic that will explain this LNP-media drive obsession with Kevin Rudd.

This ‘Peanuts’ cartoon from Charles M Schulz, shows a long running gag, Lucy promises she won’t remove the football, and every time Charlie Brown falls for it. He runs up, Lucy removes the football, Charlie Brown falls flat on his back.

Actually, this doesn’t need thorough or indepth analysis, it can all be explained with a simple ‘Peanuts’ cartoon. The media pushing for a return to Rudd is nothing more than media hype and LNP spin.

Kevin Rudd is Charlie Brown. Lucy is the LNP-cheerleaders in the media. Any change in Prime Minister will see the media remove the football as soon Kevin Rudd makes his final run, and the ALP will land flat on their back.

The media are toying with the ALP. They start these Ruddmentum stories and the ALP run around like headless chickens, in a panic.

And the Labor party fall for it every time.

Do they not realise that the only people who will be happy with a return to Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister are those who wish to inflict on Australia the most extreme right-wing Abbott LNP government this country will have ever seen.

The following was a comment left on a really old Turn Left blog post, the contents of the comment deserve a bump. I have no way of knowing the accuracy of the comment, the details and raw anger are obvious. Apologies for the caps-lock, this is how the comment was left.

Even though Mandy explains she is not Aboriginal, if the police thought she was, because of the factors involved, then I am asking the question: Was Mandy tasered because the police thought she was Aboriginal?

JUDGE JURY & EXECUTIONER THAT DESCRIBES THE CONSTABLE THAT TASERED ME LAST NITE, IN FRONT OF AN ABORIGINAL FLAG PAINTED ON OUR FENCE LINE. WHILE IN THE LOCK UP I WAS ADVISED TO SEEK ABORIGINAL LEGAL ADVICE. I AM NOT OF ABORIGINAL BLOOD. THIS IS RACISM & BRUTALITY. I AM SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS TORTURE, FOR NOW I UNDERSTAND MY INDIGENOUS BROTHERS AND SISTERS PLIGHT. I WAS DENIED A PHONE CALL. I AM TOO ASHAMED TO CALL MY SELF AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN NOW. THERE WAS NO LEGITIMATE REASON TO ADMINISTER THIS ARCHAEIC PUNISHMENT, OTHER THAN TO COERCE ME INTO RESISTING ARREST, WHICH IS CONFUSED WITH THE ACTIONS OF A PERSON WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAS HAPPENED TO THEM…..OF COURSE, THEN HE THREW IN THE ASSAULT CHARGE AS WELL, AND MALICIOUS DAMAGE BECAUSE I PEED MYSELF IN THE LOCK UP. ALL THIS OCCURRED WHILE I WAS IN MY UNDERWEAR, FOR 6 HOURS OF DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY. DID I FAIL TO MENTION THAT I WAS FORCED ONTO MY KNEES AND HANDCUFFED, EXCRUCIATINGLY TOOOOO TIGHTLY, WHICH RESULTED IN CRIES OF PAIN & TRYING TO ALLEVIATE THE PAIN PHYSICALLY, AND THIS WAS SEEN AS HINDERING A POLICE OFFICER IN THE LINE OF DUTY….SO HE DRAGGED ME BY THE CUFFS OUT OF MY OWN FUCKING PROPERTY. DID I MENTION THAT WHILE TOTALLY IN PAIN AND BLINDED, MY PARTNER MANAGED TO REMOVE ME TO THE SAFETY OF OUR PROPERTY, AND ONCE INSIDE, I DID NOT GIVE THIS POLICE OFFICER PERMISSION TO ENTER MY PROPERTY. I ASKED HIM TO LEAVE REPEATEDLY, HE REFUSED. THIS IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE, UNDER STATE LAW, AND RECOGNISED AS THE QUICKEST WAY TO INVOKE ANARCHY IN A SOCIETY VIA CONSTITUTIONAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

MY PARTNER WAS TASERED FOR ASSISTING MYSELF AND BEATEN AROUND THE LEGS WITH A BATON. AND PUT INTO LOCK UP. THEY LEFT MY HOME UNLOCKED, GATES OPEN, CAR UNLOCKED, AND WE LIVE ON THE OPAL MINING FIELDS WHICH ARE RIFE WITH THIEVERY…..SOMEONE SPLASHED WATER INTO MY FACE, DO THEY KNOW HOW BAD THIS IS…..WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR FREE SOCIETY???? I REFUSE TO BE TREATED INHUMANELY IN A DEMOCRATIC NATION, WHILE WE FIGHT FOR THE HUMANE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE IN ROGUE STATES AND COUNTRIES. I HAVE INITIATED PURSUIT OF LEGAL ACTION, TODAY.

I HAD NOT COMMITTED ANY OFFENCE. MY CHARGES ALL RESULTED FROM THE FACT THAT A TASER WAS AVAILABLE TO USE. TO USE ONE, HIS EXCUSE WAS ASSAULTING, AND RESISTING A POLICE OFFICER IN LINE OF DUTY. THE ONLY WARNING I WAS GIVEN WAS THE SOUND OF THE SPRAY IN MY FACE AS I TURNED TO FACE THE PERSON TOWERING OVER ME, IN THE DARK. I FREAKED, AND MANAGED TO CLOSE MY EYES. OH MY GOD. EXPERIENCE A TASER THAN GIVE YOUR OPINION. NUMBER 1. I CHALLENGED HIM FOR 6 HOURS IN THE LOCKUP FOR A REASON FOR BEING SPRAYED. AS STATED EARLIER, THE CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST ME R IN DIRECT RELATIONSHIP TO THE FACT THAT A TASER WAS AVAILABLE AND HE WAS TASER HAPPY. MANDY.

Bob Carr, Foreign Minister, once famously said “Tony Abbott is like a cheapskate hypnotist in a rundown circus

He’s saying to the electorate, Look into my eyes, you are growing weaker: No more boats.

Look into my eyes you are growing weaker: end Labor’s big bad tax. Look into my eyes you are growing weaker: debt and deficit.

He’s trying to hypnotise the electorate with these slogans. It’s a very cheap performance.” (Source: here)

As Joy Cooper, a regular and much appreciated visitor to Turn Left has commented:

It makes me weep inside when lower-income people believe all the mendacious crap issuing from Tony Abbott & his cohort. They are like lambs being led to slaughter by the bellwether News Ltd aided by shock jocks such as Bolt, Jones & Hadley, all squillionaires who have absolutely nothing in common with such people. If truth be known they probably despise them as not being “their people”. They are now so well indoctrinated they will not believe the truth even if they see it with their own eyes. It is so sad & frustrating. John Howard conned them & they are still under his malevolent spell.
Source: here

John Howard’s failed WorkChoices plan was just the warm up. Tony Abbott’s WorkChoices (inspired by Gina ‘Less Than $2 A Day’ Rinehart) will turn Australia into a Medieval Fiefdom controlled by a handful of billionaires and their marionettes in parliament doing their bidding.

The media are pushing the idea that the biggest threat to Australian millionaires comes from workers wanting flexible hours, perhaps for caring for elderly or disabled relatives or children, they claim this is in inflexible.

The ALP has plans to make it easier for employees to seek flexible working hours. Flexibility would apply to those workers who are over 55, with school age children, disability or carer duties, victim of domestic violence or new parents. (source: here)

As sure as night follows day, the millionaires and billionaires have launched a campaign to demonise “flexibility”.

Labor’s IR law hurts business ‘battlers’: CEO
Nicola Mills confesses she gets a little “nervous” when the federal government starts fiddling with Fair Work legislation. The chief executive of Pacific Retail Management, which runs restaurant chains including Go Sushi and Kick Juice, says the proposed changes to expand the rights of parents to request flexible hours and restrict roster changes put more pressure on small businesses by imposing too much bureaucracy.

Pacific Retail, with a turnover of more than $9 million is the conservatives idea of a battler. All those workers with an Alzheimer parent to look after and two kids in school struggling on minimum wage in an office someplace between midnight and dawn on a saturday night without the chance of penalty rates at (for example) one of Pacific Retails businesses probably didn’t realise that $9 million was the New Battler.

But for all you workers of Australia who are battling on much less than $9M, Tony ‘Superman’ Abbott is putting on his cape, his undies over his tights and will save you.

Tony Abbott says “the real friends of the workers of this country are on this side [Opposition] of the Parliament.” (source: here)

In the past Tony Abbott has said “The one thing that the Australian workers will find is that I am their best friend. What I want to see is higher wages and more jobs. That’s what I was like when I was the workplace relations minister.” (source: here)

Tony Abbott was also part of a Liberal government that inflicted WorkChoices on the nation. Slave wages and no rights is Tony Abbott’s idea of being a “best friend”. Although, considering he was Peter Slipper’s best friend, and was best man at his wedding, and has since tried to force him out of his job and into prison, perhaps Tony Abbott doesn’t realise what being a Friend means.

However, the ALP will fight for all Australians, not just a handful of multi-millionaire battlers.

But the problem is that there is only one side of Australian politics that wants to be positive about workplace relations.

Whenever we talk about workplace relations, someone in the central bunker of Liberal headquarters presses the alarm button and says: ‘Quick; we’d better get out and bash unions. We’d better disguise the fact that we do not have a policy for Australian workplaces.’

Even better, someone in Liberal Party headquarters presses the button and says: ‘Quick, let’s rake over something from 20 years ago as a revenge against our Prime Minister.’ At least we talk about workplace relations.

I will tell you about Liberal flexibility—because they will not. Under Liberals, it is more flexible to sack someone. It is more flexible to cut their pay. It is more flexible, but they do not have job security.

Under Labor, our definition of flexibility is productivity; it is modern families getting a decent go in the workplace.

I love it when the Leader of the Opposition reminds everyone, as he did today, that he is the worker’s best friend. With friends like him, you don’t need enemies!…

You might not like the truth over there [Opposition], but you should have it.

Finally, when we talk about prosperity and threats to it, I love a good Leader of the Opposition quote. Talking about Work Choices, Mr Abbott said:

The Howard government’s industrial legislation, it was good for wages, it was good for jobs and it was good for workers. And let’s never forget that.

I will tell you one thing: we’ll never forget about it, but I don’t agree with the rest of that quote.

Firstly, has anyone noticed that people who constantly criticise others regularly spell “you’re wrong” as “your wrong”? But anyway…

A couple of weeks ago, I put out a call, I have money in the Turn Left budget, did anyone know any Leftie blogs that could do with a donation or sponsorship, there were no blogs suggested, not even a “me, pick me, pick me”.

The internet might have given unprecedented freedom to writers, but with it comes inevitable exposure to trolls. Now one US author has decided to tackle online baiting head-on, in a move that could see payouts of tens of thousands of dollars to four civil rights, women’s issues and LGBT charities.

John Scalzi is the author of several books… Fed up of being constantly targeted on his website by one particular individual and his followers, Scalzi decided to take action, pledging US$5 every time “the Racist Sexist Homophobic Dipshit in question posts an entry on his site in which he uses my name (or one of his adorable nicknames for me)”.

Scalzi put a ceiling on his “troll tip jar” of US$1,000, figuring that gave his bête noir 200 opportunities to abuse him over the coming year, and said he’d give the cash to four charities

That gave me an idea: for every hater that comments, every death threat, implied death threat, threat of sexual violence, Tony Abbott fanbois telling me or any authors on Turn Left “your wrong”, anti union, anti PM Julia Gillard, anti ALP, anti greens, etc, etc, comment on this blog, $1 will be going to The Greens, The ALP and Tony Windsor’s re-election campaign. If / when Rob Oakeshott announces his intention he may be added to the donation list, depending on his choice.

Exceptions will be made for “you’re wrong”s that point out factual, spelling or grammar errors. They’re helpful not hateful.

Like Scalzi, my ceiling will be $1000. That is over 300 negative comments, which will only serve to make the Left, and Independents, stronger.

On the other hand, there might be no negative comments, in which case, I get a weekend in the Tropics with the money, yah.

Since the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced the date of the election (just the date, parliament hasn’t been dissolved, we are not in caretaker mode, for all the confused Right-wingers out there), it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Tony Abbott and his LNP.

Tony Abbott has seen two leaks to media, his “hurt the working poor” policies are being examined by, a story splashed all over The Australian that he had given a positive character reference for a child-abusing priest, and a fabulous new make-over.

One of Tony Abbott’s big themes during his time as Opposition Leader has been how “united” the Liberal Nationals are. This is so he can present any non-conformity or differences within the Government or between the ALP and Greens as “chaos”.

However, unity is also conformity and conformity is not always a good thing, and as it turns out, the LNP are not as united or marching in lockstep as Tony Abbott wants to believe.

Leaked email
There have been at least two leaks within the LNP (or supposed leaks) in recent days.

The first leak was regarding Tony Abbott’s speech to the National Press Club (NPC) on 1 February.

Revealed: Tony Abbott’s email on election agenda
However, an email exchange within his inner circle, including his wife Margie, obtained by The Daily Telegraph online, has revealed that Mr Abbott appeared more concerned with making friends in the media and convincing them to think he was a “good bloke”. …
he suggests that the speech contained enough personal stories “that’s personal for the commentariat to say…yes he is a good bloke, and yes he is more fair dinkum..”.

So either someone passed it on to Murdoch’s The Daily Telegraph, or they are part of the inner circle.

Joe Hockey tried to portray this leak as being the work of a stranger taking a screen cap of Tony Abbott’s computer in the Qantas Lounge. Perhaps Tony Abbott shouldn’t leave his computer unattended so that strangers can get screen caps.

However, it is not really news that Tony is more concerned with his appearance, or how people think of him, than any policies of his party, Tony has been all about spin over substance his entire career.

Although, Tony, if you want to be liked, perhaps you / your party could stop trying to put your friends in prison, like former Speaker, Peter Slipper… you remember him? you were best man at his wedding.

Leaked draft policy
The second leak is more serious, a draft policy discussion paper that involves cutting the country into two economic zones, forcing public servants to move to Darwin or far north Queensland, selling more land to Asian developers, redirecting $800 million foreign aid budget to build hospitals in Darwin, a massive infrastructure programme for road, rail, dams, schools, hospitals and communications.

Are you serious Mr Abbott? Surely those sort of things are best left up to the market, if people don’t want to live and work in northern Australia, you are going to redirect billions in taxpayer money on a social engineering programme that is doomed to failure. The capitalist free market has spoken, they don’t it.

Hit the poor, subsidise the rich policy
Leaked documents at least serve Tony Abbott, as they distract from his election policy of raising taxes on the poor.

Tony Abbott’s plan to remove low-income (less than $37,000) superannuation concession will hit 3.6 million people across Australia.

A case of Tony Abbott “callously hitting 3.6 million of the poorest taxpayers while opposing changes to curb disproportionate tax advantages for the wealthy.

Treasury figures show the top 5 per cent of income earners, who have a greater capacity to direct savings into super, obtain a combined benefit of nearly $6.5 billion a year.”

This has been described as “a gross injustice” by former Liberal premier of NSW John Brogden.

Channel 9 not playing their part
Although, it seems the Liberal Party does not appreciate when you look at their actual policies, instead of just repeating the PR.

We now have the ludicrous situation where reporting facts and telling the truth leaves media open to accusation of bias from the LNP.

For more of that exchange between Joe Hockey and Bill Shorten, click here

Are you serious, Mr Hockey? Channel 9 are your boy and girls, they’ve been aligned with the Liberal government since the days of Black-and-White TV, just because you can’t keep them on a short leash, does not mean they don’t check the facts.

John Nestor, a priest charged with child abuse got a character reference from Tony Abbott, which completely overwhelmed the evidence from a child he tried to portrayed as lying, leading the judge to question the ‘validity of the boy’s evidence’.

Tony Abbott said

‘An extremely upright and virtuous man. I guess one of the things that I like very much about John when I first met him was his maturity – intellectual, social, emotional. And he was, to that extent I guess, a beacon of humanity at the seminary’

Where is the justice for the abused children?

Lawyer Chris Murphy has said that the upcoming Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse should “look at cases of powerful people overwhelming abused children who dare to speak up”.